NEW SHARON — A New Sharon man has died from his injuries in a traffic accident in front of his home earlier this week, police officials said Saturday.
John Pelletier, 62, died Friday afternoon at Lewiston’s Central Maine Medical Center after his pickup collided with a tractor-trailer, according to a statement from Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Department of Public Safety.
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Pelletier drove his pickup Thursday afternoon from his driveway into the path of the tractor-trailer on U.S. Route 2, according to McCausland. The other driver was uninjured, he said.
The impact caused massive damage to the front driver’s side of the pickup, which was knocked into a ditch alongside the road.
The tractor-trailer, which was not loaded, came to rest on the road, McCausland said.
Pelletier was rushed to Franklin Memorial Hospital and was transferred later that evening to the Lewiston hospital.
The tractor-trailer, a 1996 Freightliner, is owned by Phoenix Trucking Co. of Harmony and was being driven by Darrell Spaulding, 42, of Sangerville, according McCausland.
McCausland said Spaulding would not face charges, as he “was unable to avoid the pickup truck” and “was not at fault.”
McCausland said on Saturday that alcohol is being considered as a possible factor in the crash, and Pelletier might have been suffering from a medical issue, which state police are considering as a possible contributing cause.
Court records show that in 2011, Pelletier was ordered by Farmington District Court to pay a fine for sale and use of drug paraphernalia and was found guilty of having violated a protection-from-harassment order. A review of court records showed no other criminal record.
The accident caused emergency responders from the state police, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department, the New Sharon Fire Department and the Farmington Fire Department to close the road for four hours Thursday afternoon.
Matt Hongoltz-Hetling — 861-9287
mhhetling@centralmaine.com
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